American Express credit line increase rules

Jackie Lavielle

Jul 9 in General discussion

To maximize your credit limit on preset limit cards, follow the 3X CLI rule:

1. First month: Keep your balance between 10-30% of the maximum limit at any point during the billing cycle.

2. Second month: Increase your balance to 40-60% of the limit if desired.

3. Third month: Maintain a balance between 40-60% of the limit and ensure you meet any bonus requirements.

4. At the 91-day mark: Request a 3x increase on your current limit. Make sure your balance is $0 at the time of the request, and ensure all payments are fully posted, not just pending.

5. Once approved for the increase, mark a date on your calendar 181 days after this date to request the next CLI.

6. Months 4 to 9: Ideally, cycle the card once a month, but at minimum, do so every 3 months.

7. Your CLI will be 3x the newest limit. For example, if your limit is $2,000 on January 1st, you can request a CLI to $6,000 on April 1st, and then to $18,000 on September 29th.

Please note that this strategy is specifically recommended for the Amex Blue Business Plus card. It is not necessary to follow this approach for personal cards, as Amex is not typically relied upon for high-limit preset cards.

Regarding preset limits, it is advisable to not exceed a total exposure of $35,000 across all Amex preset limit credit cards, unless you are comfortable with potentially undergoing a financial review.

For charge cards (such as Platinum, Gold, Green, Plum, and Black Card), there is no preset limit. The spending power on these cards automatically adjusts on a monthly basis, eliminating the need for CLI requests.

I hope this clarifies the information for you. Let me know if you have any other questions!

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